By Tina Caparella
According to news agencies, two U.S. cities will be pumping biodiesel produced from animal fats and recycled cooking oil into their fleets.
In the Midwest, the city of Manitowoc, WI, will test run its Maritime Metro Transit buses with a five percent biodiesel derived from animal fat and 95 percent petroleum diesel beginning in May. The mixture will be locally produced by Bio-Blends Fuels. The biodiesel facility is expected to be in full production by May.
“We’re taking a very cautious approach to it, but it is something that is kind of exciting and the preliminary tests show that it is a viable fuel and there’s no reason that we can’t start using it,” city fleet manager Kevin Glaeser told the Manitowoc Herald Times. If preliminary tests show biodiesel works well, the fuel may be used for the city’s entire fleet of diesel-engine vehicles. The bus transit fleet alone uses about 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel per month in this city of 35,000 residents.
Glaeser said he had to research whether biodiesel would work for the city’s fleets after reading stories of vehicles stranded due to the fuel gelling. He added that the biggest roadblock in determining whether to use biodiesel is warranty considerations from engine manufacturers.
“I can’t take a chance on them turning down the warranty because I put this fuel in,” Glaeser said. “They are okay with up to a five percent blend. The only reason I would use up to a 20 percent blend is because we are out of warranty now [on some vehicles] and we have plenty of statistics to show that it has not done any damage in other fleets that are using it throughout the country.”
Meanwhile, in the South, the city of Hoover, AL, is turning to leftover cooking oil donated by restaurants to fuel some of its vehicles. The city made its first batch of biodiesel in early March and is using it in two city vehicles.
“We’re going to put it in certain vehicles and monitor those vehicles,” Petelos told a local television news reporter. He added that the fuel will be used in more vehicles if all goes well.
Hoover officials purchased the processing equipment from Biodiesel Logic, Inc., an Albertville, AL, company, and can make up to 55 gallons at one time. Mayor Tony Petelos said he would like the city to eventually begin accepting donations of waste grease from the city’s 65,000 residents, which would help eliminate sewer problems caused by disposing used cooking grease down the drain.
AgriFuel Closes Initial Investments
AgriFuel Co., a privately held biofuel concern, has acquired interests in two northeastern biodiesel producers and is near closing on a third.
AgriFuel now holds rights to 45 percent of the equity of York, PA-based United BioFuels, Inc., with an option to increase its stake in United to 60 percent, and holds rights to 52.5 percent of the stock of Buffalo Biodiesel, Inc., of Buffalo, NY, with a right to buy the rest of the company’s outstanding stock.
United operates a soy oil processing facility and is expanding its biodiesel plant’s production capacity to four million gallons per year while incorporating technological upgrades that will enable it to process lower-cost feedstocks. Completion of the expansion is targeted for August 2007.
Buffalo Biodiesel is in the initial phase of constructing a four million gallon per year biodiesel plant using a modular technology. It is also aggressively expanding its existing waste oil collection business, which is expected to contribute up to 50 percent of the feedstock for Buffalo Biodiesel’s production plant. The remainder of the plant’s raw materials will consist of soy oil and yellow grease purchased from third parties. AgriFuel expects to acquire the remaining 47.5 percent of Buffalo Biodiesel’s stock within 12 months.
AgriFuel is also finalizing terms of an investment in a midwestern biodiesel producer in a contemplated amount of $6.5 million. The company under review has been issued a permit to construct a facility with a capacity to make 30 million gallons of biodiesel per year from a combination of animal fats, yellow grease, and crude de-gummed soy oil.
Grant Awarded to Jump-start Marketplace
A $200,000 Environmental Protection Agency grant awarded to City College of San Francisco, CA, will fund improved access to biodiesel for public and private diesel powered fleets. The grant funds will be used to bring together a consortium of biodiesel advocates to help develop distribution and fueling infrastructure and provide classroom training to fuel distributors, mechanics, and users. Ultimately, the project will transform biodiesel from a “boutique” fuel into a mainstream fuel option throughout the Bay Area, and eventually throughout the West Coast.
At City College of San Francisco’s Alternative Transportation Technology Institute automotive shop, students manufacture and test biodiesel on engines, trucks, and cars. City College uses waste oil to produce and test biodiesel and will share the biodiesel training curriculum with other Alternative Transportation Technology Institutes statewide. Though not a distributor, as part of the project, City College will establish two distribution services and use biodiesel blends in eight Bay Area fleets.
Maui Electric to Run on Biodiesel
A new biodiesel plant will be built on the island of Maui, HI, to supply the renewable fuel for use in Maui Electric Company’s diesel generators.
Scheduled to be in operation by 2009, the plant will produce 40 million gallons per year of biodiesel in a state-of-the-art continuous flow facility. A planned second and third phase will bring annual production to 120 million gallons per year by 2011. Currently, plans are to use palm oil imported from around the Pacific Rim and South America from suppliers that practice sustainable palm production. In the future, hopes are to convert the facility to Hawaiian-grown feedstock, including possibly local palm oil, jatropha, kukui nut, coconut, or other oil rich crops.
The plant will be developed and operated by BlueEarth Biofuels, LLC, and owned by a partnership of BlueEarth and a new Hawaiian Electric Company subsidiary, with all of the utility company’s profits from the project going to a Hawaii Biofuels Public Trust. The public trust will be created to fund development of Hawaii’s bio-energy infrastructure – for example, for biofuels research and development at the University of Hawaii, to support the prices of Hawaiian-grown biofuel feedstocks, or to enhance Hawaii’s bioenergy agriculture infrastructure.
In other news from Hawaii, Honolulu Clean Cities has received $100,000 in federal funding from the Environmental Protection Agency for a biodiesel project as part of the West Coast Collaborative.
The Biodiesel from Fuel Crops in Hawaii project will explore and evaluate a number of crop materials currently available in Hawaii to determine their suitability for producing biodiesel. The project is led by Honolulu Clean Cities with partners Pacific Biodiesel; Aloha Green; University of Hawaii – Hilo; College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Natural Resource Management; Oceanic Institute; Hawaii Agricultural Research Center; and Grace Pacific.
The project will evaluate crop properties, feasibility of oil extraction, oil properties, and biodiesel manufacturing limitations from such crops as avocado, kukui nuts, and coconut.
Nova Signs Agreement with Scott Petroleum
Nova Biosource Fuels, Inc., has completed a biodiesel tolling and off-take agreement with Scott Petroleum, Inc., for rights to 50 percent of the biodiesel and glycerin production at Scott Petroleum’s 20 million gallon per year biodiesel plant being built by a subsidiary of Nova in Greenville, MS. Construction of the facility began in July 2006 and is scheduled to be producing biodiesel in the summer of 2007. The biodiesel facility will use catfish oil, poultry fat, and other rendered products from the Delta region as feedstock for the production of biodiesel.
Scott Petroleum is a family-owned distributor of petroleum products. Begun in 1935, it currently operates 22 bulk plants, seven remote plants, and seven convenience stores throughout Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana.
25x’25 Plan Unveiled
Agricultural, energy, environmental, business, and labor group leaders have presented policymakers with a set of specific recommendations for reaching an ambitious renewable energy goal: 25 percent of the nation’s energy supply from renewable sources by 2025.
The 25x’25 Action Plan: Charting America’s Energy Future was written by the 28-member 25x’25 Steering Committee based on the consensus reviews and policy recommendations of the more than 400 organizations that have endorsed the 25x’25 vision. Presented to congressional leaders on Capitol Hill in late February, the plan contains 35 specific recommendations that would cost just five percent of what America spent on imported oil in 2006 and would result in a dramatic increase in new jobs and economic activity, along with significant reductions in oil consumption and global warming emissions. The recommendations focus on increasing the production of renewable energy, delivering that energy to consumers, expanding consumer demand, and enhancing resource conservation and energy efficiency.
A copy of the action plan is available online at www.25x25.org.
Texas Approves Biodiesel Additive to Reduce NOx
ORYXE Energy International received official notification in March from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) that the company’s biodiesel fuel additive, ORYXE LED for Biodiesel, has been approved for use in the state. Test results from a 20 percent biodiesel blend, submitted to the TCEQ, show that the additive reduces the increase in nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from biodiesel to the level required to qualify as Texas Low Emission Diesel (TxLED). The emissions tests were conducted at West Virginia University Engine and Emissions Research Laboratory, an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-recognized facility, and were funded in part by the state of Texas through a grant from the TCEQ.
Results from an EPA study show that biodiesel reduces all regulated emissions with the exception of NOx, which is a major contributor to ozone pollution and is a serious problem in many areas of Texas. The TxLED program was launched in November 2005 to reduce NOx emissions from diesel exhaust in 110 counties, including the metropolitan areas of Houston, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Austin, and San Antonio.
Toro Equipment Biodiesel Ready by 2008
The Toro Company has announced that all diesel-powered golf course and sports fields and grounds equipment will be “biodiesel ready” by 2008. This includes the Toro Reelmaster, Groundsmaster, Greensmaster, Workman, and MultiPro product families. Beyond these specific product families, Toro will continue to expand the use of biodiesel fuels in other diesel-powered equipment lines.
The company is also creating upgrade kits for the above mentioned product families to convert diesel models already in production or in the field to be compatible with biodiesel. The kits are expected to be available by June 2007.
Wardrop Joins Canada Clean Fuels
Ron Wardrop has joined CCF International Corporation, a subsidiary of Canada Clean Fuels, a Toronto, ON, Canada area distributor of biodiesel blends, as director of sales and marketing. Previously, Wardrop was with Rothsay, a Canadian renderer and biodiesel producer.
CCF International will be developing an import and export business for the alternative fuels market, including biodiesel and ethanol. Wardrop brings a unique perspective to the company as his biodiesel experience is primarily in selling animal fat-based biodiesel.
Wellons Signs on With Tellurian Biodiesel
Fred Wellons has been named vice president of operations for Tellurian Biodiesel, Inc., parent company of San Francisco Biodiesel and LA Biofuels. Tellurian and its subsidiaries have been marketing biodiesel on the West Coast for several years and have plans for biodiesel production facilities in the southeastern United States and in California and Arizona. Tellurian’s expertise is on the production of high quality biodiesel from recycled materials such as waste cooking oil, yellow grease, and animal fats.
Wellons previously served as vice president and general manager of Chemol Company, the former chemical division of CBP Resources, where the first industrial-size quantities of biodiesel in the United States were produced. More recently, Wellons served as director of research and business development at Baker Commodities, Inc., a Los Angeles, CA-based renderer, and as vice president of Superior Process Technologies, a division of Baker Commodities.
Biodiesel Bulletin - April 2007 Render